1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a four sided prism for the viewing of one's own backside, as well as the normal frontal view and including oblique front and back views, and which prism can be constructed as a fixed structure or as a folding structure for saving floor space.
2. Description of Prior Art
For centuries mirrors have been used to reflect the frontal image of the viewer. Sometimes a viewer placed a mirror at their backside and in a position to reflect this oblique view into a mirror being held in front of them. In recent years mirrors have been provided in three connected frames to provide oblique front and side views. In some specialty stores such as wedding gown departments mirrors have been placed on four walls of a small room to provide oblique front and rear views and a full front view. These small rooms with their interior walls covered with mirrors were not constructed as prisms. That is, they do not provide precise alignment of the reflective surfaces. The result is the front, oblique and rear views of the viewer are distorted.
U.S. Pat. No. 226,362 was issued to Short showing four mirrors arranged in a horizontal pattern, with the bottom two mirrors requiring adjustment in order for any person of a height different than the previous viewer to see their backside. The mirrors presented in the patent drawings would require a person of a different height than the previous viewer to adjust the bottom two mirrors to see the top one third of their backside. The viewer would be required to adjust the bottom two mirrors in order to see the middle section of their backside. The viewer would then be required to adjust the bottom two mirrors to see the lower bottom one third of their backside. This patent does not provide any oblique view of the front or backside of the viewer. This patent to Short covers an adjustable mirror array which, at best, requires many difficult adjustments by the viewer, and may require the assistance of two persons to adjust the mirrors for partial scanning of the backside of the viewer. The patent reveals a system which requires installation in a fixed box, or portion of a home. All this at considerable cost of space and time requirements.
U.S. Pat. No. 370,623 to Hooker, U.S. Pat. No. 505,127 to Ranger, U.S. Pat. No. 533,167 to Fuller, U.S. Pat. No. 1,969,910 to Simjian, U.S. Pat. No. 2,379,214 to Bolinger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,790 to Jorwa, U.S. Pat. No. 6,252,730 to Chabot, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,222 to Kobayashi all present an array of mirrors which offer some type of at least partial view of the backside of the viewer.
All the reflective mirror or prism systems known to this date suffer from a number of disadvantages.
(a) They do not offer a full scale image of the front, the backside, the oblique front and the oblique backside image of the viewer. Our patent provides this.
(b) They offer no manufacturing system that allows total prefabrication so that on-site installation can be completed in a manner of minutes by one or two persons. Our patent provides this.
(c) They offer no indication of being suitable for mass marketing to the several million up-scale homes which qualify in space and financial status for such an appliance. None have reached any status as a mass produced commercial product. Our patent has survived a nation wide market analysis and manufacturing is being prepared to permit sale to homeowners nationwide.
(d) They offer no indication of being suitable for mass marketing to the several hundred thousand clothing stores which will find this appliance of immediate value to their sales activities. Our patent has survived a nationwide market analysis and manufacturing is being prepared to permit sale to clothing and department store operators nationwide.
(e) They indicate no ability to be disassembled as quickly as assembled and moved a short or a great distance for re-assembly in a precision alignment status. Especially by one or two persons with no technical skills in such assembly procedures. Our patent provides this flexibility.
(f) They do not indicate any feature which allows for construction of the prism with hinges so the system can be folded against a wall and covered by a cabinet for appearance and for floor space conversation. Our patent provides this advantage.
Objects and Advantages
Accordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the precision prism described in our above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) A prism of such scale that a full sized person can walk into the interior of the prism and review full scale images of their front, their back side, and oblique front and oblique backside views without any adjustments of the prism.
(b) A prism constructed of metal components for the frame, with mounts for the reflective surfaces, and which maintain perfect flat alignment of the reflective surfaces in their respective mounts, and maintain perfect alignment of the relationship of one reflective surface to each and any of the other reflective surfaces.
(c) A prism which is assembled so that in the fixed model the prism can be assembled by one or two persons, in minutes, without use of any hand tools.
(d) A prism which is assembled so that the fixed model the prism can be surrounded by walls of a home or retail store without distorting the alignment of the prism frame.
(e) A prism which is assembled so that in the folding model the prism can be attached to a wall and enclosed with a cabinet by one or two persons, in minutes, with minimum hand tools,
(f) A prism, fixed or folding, which can be disassembled, moved and reassembled easily, and remain in perfect alignment.
Further objects and advantages are to provide an appliance for viewing one's own backside which can be used as simply and conveniently as a flat mirror, which is relative inexpensive to manufacture, which is extremely simple for anyone to assemble, and requires no adjustment at the time of set-up or during use. Still further objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent from consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.